Sunday, October 14, 2012

People tell me all the time how amazed they are at all I do. Kids, crafts, meals, etc. I appreciate the complement but the truth is I am just holding it together. I wake up in the morning wondering how I am gonna make it through the day. I go to bed at night grateful that I did make it through the day. Everything in between is a blessing.

Don't get me wrong. I have amazing kids and an awesome hubby. We spend our time making memories that will be treasured.

That said. Right now, I am just holding it together. And that is ok because my kids are happy, my marriage is secure and we, as a family, are ROCKING IT!

Sunday, September 9, 2012

I have long adored all of my friends' cute diaper stashes but was wary of the idea of twins in cloth diapers. Then I did the math:

4 diapers a day per kid at $.25 a diaper (I'm rounding for easy math!) is $1.00 a day.
At least 1.5 more years/548 days of diapers/pull-ups times 2 is $1096. OH MY GOODNESS!!!!

I found out that I could purchase 20 re-usable cloth diapers with microfiber inserts for $96.00 from Alva Baby. I figured that I needed 28 diapers in total to CD both boys for 2 days (with some leftover for laundry day.) Completely doable for only $137. Wow! That sounds a LOT better than $1096! Plus, if I take good care of my diapers I should be able to re-sell them for about 1/2 of what I paid. Nice! So I took the leap and ordered everything that I needed to CD.

Now, I did spend a little more than $137 because there are different supplies that you need. For example, you need CD friendly diaper cream. I recommend CJ's BUTTer for any number of reasons; the 2 biggest being the yummy scents and the amazing BUTTer PLUS that is great for yeast rashes (I got it in a spray which is nice because it is so easy to apply!) I am experimenting with different liners. I recommend liners for first timers because they make cleaning up poopy diapers so much easier. You also need a couple of wet bags to keep dirty diapers in in the diaper bag and a pail liner for your diaper pail. Oh & you need cloth diaper friendly detergent (for some good info check here.) There are lots of optional things you can get, too. Sounds intimidating but once you've read a bit you realize that it isn't that hard to CD anymore.

I got my fluff (as CD's are affectionately called) mail on Saturday and was so excited it was funny! I spent the rest of the day getting it all ready to be worn. Our first diaper Sunday morning was a cloth one. There's no going back now.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

I will not lie. I suffer from a mild (ok, semi mild) case of OCD. One of my issues is that I do not like getting my clothes wet while I am wearing them (lest you think I have some kind of phobia about getting them wet to wash them!) This means that bath time is generally torture for me so you can imagine what the idea of letting my kids splash around in the big puddle in the backyard does to me. O_o

In my effort to let my kids have awesome memories, this evening I let them splash to their little hearts' content.

And splash they did!

Mini spin drying her dress:

They thought it was the coolest thing and Hubby & I earned major brownie points, at least we better have! Sometimes it is the littlest things that make for the best memories. And, hey, their sandals got washed , too, so that's a plus, right.

If you do not know what a Color Runner is you really must find out! I'll help you: Color Runner

Today my sweet hubby and I took our oldest, Mini, to run her first Color Run. IT WAS AWESOME! It was not without it's difficulties though. Apparently, Mini had outgrown her tennis shoes, which we did not fully realize until after the first mile. By "we" I mean "me & Mini" as hubby was actually running while we were....moseying? It was a joy to watch Mini do Color Angels in the powder (a nontoxic color powder that is various colors) and, of course, everyone thought she was adorable and were eager to dump more color on her. :-)

At 4 years old, Mini barely made it over the finish line but she did it. And she wants to do it again. I think we will because this race that is not a race at all is all about happiness and joy. I din't run barefoot (I'm not crazy!) but I might as well have judging by the color of my toes. :-D

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Huh? I can hear you now- what is she talking about?? Well today after nap my daughter asked if we could go outside and play and I said sure but you need to get some clothes on first. (She had clothes on before nap time, I swear!) She asked if she needed shoes and I said 'nope' which lead, of course, to the inevitable "why". Well, because that's how we roll in this house. Why wear shoes if you don't need to? Why worry about things if you don't need to? So, I'm a Barefoot Kind of Momma...well, I'm trying to be. Join me on my journey of raising 3 kids while trying not to worry about the small stuff, you know, like wearing shoes when we play on the back patio.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

We have a tea shop nearby called Fezziwig's Marketplace. HEAVEN!! Ok, it's tea & wine so it is AWESOME!!! I recommend it to everyone! I love to stop by and get a couple ounces of tea every once in awhile. :-)

So...anyways... I love loose leaf tea and am always on the lookout for a new tea infuser. No, I don't collect them. I have only 1, my sister's, and I loaned it to a friend when I shared a pot of tea with her. Plus, I didn't want to buy my own til I found the absolute cutest one possible. :-) Well, I did!

FREAKIN' ADORABLE, RIGHT!!!!!!

It's called the "tea duckie tea infuser" and it is by Decor Craft Inc. I found it at Cracker Barrel after having breakfast with my awesome Mom. :-) She got it for me. *happydance* I decided to have a cup of tea today and used it. LOVE IT!

Love it!!

I was singing to myself:

"Rubber duckie, your the one.

You make tea time so much fun..."

Perfect cup of tea. :-)

﻿**NOTE OF WARNING: Toddlers will also like your duckie and will be tempted to try your tea. They will not be so thrilled about it and may dump it all over the floor. This may or may not have happened to me.**

Saturday, January 28, 2012

We all have those odd dates that stick out for some reason or another. The day we met so and so, did such and such or discovered whatever. For me, January 28, is the 17th anniversary of the day I started dating my ex-husband. Random, huh? But it is a date that is permanently etched in my brain. Half my lifetime ago I started dating the guy who I thought was my Prince Charming. It took me 4.5 years and a failed 11 month marriage to figure out that he was just another frog in the pond. The damage he did along the way is still with me in a lot of ways.

When you're 17 going on 18 the world has so much potential. You are so sure of yourself that you can't imagine that someone who loves you would want to change you...control you. He was a close friend, a year older and the guy that my Mom kept saying "why don't you date??" (She regrets that to this day, I'm sad to say.) I wasn't interested until he wasn't around for a bit. After not seeing each other for a couple months he showed up at a basketball game to watch his brother play and the next thing you know we were inseparable. He'd leave me love notes on my car windshield or have his brother pass them to me in school and I'd send my responses back the same way. We spent every spare moment we had together and I was sure it would be forever.

After high school I got a job at the same place as him. Not the same hours all the time but we got to check in with each other and sometimes go on break together. We went to the same junior college together in the fall and managed to take a couple classes together. I performed in the traveling theater show that first year. Only that once though because it cut into the amount of time we could spend together. I am sure he would tell you, even now, that he never told me to not do it again but his...disappointment...in us not being able to spend time together was evident. If only I had seen it then... We chose a University to go to...well, I chose it and, this one time, gave him the choice to either be there with me or not. I wish I could say that that was my idea but my parents decided that for me (not the actual school but that I had to move on from a 2 year college after 2 years.)

It was a spring day when he proposed, I can't even give you a date because it didn't stick in my head. I can say that I knew what my ring looked like because we picked it out together. I had had a fight with my sister about who knows what and was upset. We went for a walk and he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I said yes. Then he took the ring back, saying it had to be sized and that he would give it back to me when the time was right...when I deserved it. (I know, RED FLAG!!) I wasn't happy about that but I accepted it. It was several months before I ever wore that ring...

I spent breaks from school planning our wedding for the following summer. We went to school 9 hours away from home so everything had to be condensed into the short time we were home for breaks. That first semester I was part of 2 theater shows, had a part time job and went to school full time. I didn't do another show until after my divorce. I was made aware of the fact that it cut into our time together. Not said outright or anything...more like "you seem so stressed out and we never get to just hang out together anymore" or "you aren't' going to stay late after rehearsal tonight are you; you know I get worried about you being out late."

I wasn't allowed to drive his car. Not because it was anything special. Heck, it was a Tempo for crying out loud. But I was not allowed to drive it. Ever. Oh & I wasn't allowed to drive in traffic of any kind because traffic made me nervous. Not that I ever recalled being nervous in traffic but when someone tells you that often enough, guess what, traffic will make you nervous.

There were so many red flags that I am amazed that I ever went through with the wedding. To be truthful, every once in a while I would have a nagging doubt but I though that his insecurity would vanish when we got married. Only it didn't. What did happen was that I was get ting more involved in my theater and speech classes which required me to have rehearsal time and he started hanging out with a friend of his. A female friend of his. Even this didn't faze me as his best friend from school was female and it just never occurred to me to be worried. We were living off student loans so we didn't have a lot of money and I can remember going out with my sister for her birthday meal in early May. We went to her favorite Mexican joint. I left for rehearsal for a class project and he left to take his "friend" miniature golfing. We didn't have money for us to go but he had money to take her... Yes, I was clueless.

He left me not long after. I was lost without him and desperate to get him back. I, pathetically, tried to get him back by turning myself into a Stepford wife. I begged him to give me another chance, go to counseling, honor our vows... He felt it was too little, too late. I had given up having a life outside of him for 4 years but it was still too little, too late. It got ugly fast and I count myself lucky to have people in my life who held me up when I would have curled up in a ball and given up.

I am not proud of how that summer started but I will hold my head high on how it ended. Everything clicked in the middle of July as I was getting ready to visit a dear friend. I realized, quite simply, that I liked who I was without him more than I ever liked who I was with him.

Yet, every January when the 28th rolls around I can't help but remember the girl I was who was so excited to have found her Prince Charming. The things I wish I could tell her. Most importantly, the stuff I would remind her not to lose. Like herself.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

I have been trying to lose my baby weight from the twins. It has not been easy but I have lost almost half of it. Now I am impatient to lose the other half.

I have several friends who are vegan and are participating in "The great salad challenge" by Engine 2 Diet and I was inspired by them to start my own salad challenge. (If you are interested in a vegan lifestyle check them out, lots of information.) I know that a vegan lifestyle is not what I want right now but I also like to try and fit more veggies in my diet whenever possible. So, I decided to challenge myself to eat a salad a day. From now until whenever (why limit myself) I will either eat a salad for lunch or a salad for dinner.

Oh, and I have managed to con...uummm....I mean, convince Mae over at Mae's Got This to join me. (Haha! Now she can't back out!!!)

What do I hope to gain? With any luck I'll lose a couple pounds and discover a few delicious salad recipes. So... Who's in? Who wants to join me & Mae in The Salad Challenge??? Oh & feel free to share some recipes. I'll start, seriously, how yummy does this salad look? I can't wait to try it!:

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

One day a few weeks back I forgot to turn cartoons on for Mini in the morning. It was a school morning and we were busy and instead of clicking the TV on as we usually do we got busy doing other things. When we got home from school it was nap time and after nap time we played for a bit and then had dinner. After dinner we played for a bit more and before we knew it it was time to get ready for bed! I suppose at some point I realized that we hadn't turned the TV on but I never consciously made the decision to not turn it on.

The next day I didn't turn it on and nothing was said. Again it wasn't that I made the decision to not let the kids watch TV and, had Madi asked, I would have tuned it on for her. She just never asked. I began to enjoy the quietness and so began to make the choice not to have the TV on. This is not to say that we don't watch TV any more. Some mornings I turn it on; when we aren't going anywhere or Madi specifically asks for a cartoon. And every night I watch my show so I don't see us getting rid of our TVs just yet. :-) But I like the lack of noise and I'm going to to my best to have the TV off more than it is on. :-D

Sunday, January 1, 2012

There are a lot of products out there that I LOVE! Many of which I will soon blog about. But first there is one I want to get out there ASAP!! Why? Because it will help your babies stay WARM this winter. How do I know? Because we have been using it for our daughter, Mini, and are now using it for our boys, Big, Little Man & Little, Little Man.

I know, say what?!? But it is only $8 (for a crib/toddler bed size!) This cannot be true. TRUST ME!!! It is simply amazing! We bought one for each of the kiddos (and 2 extra for Squidgy, her cousin, & Mini's beds at my sister's house- yes, Mini has her own bed there...lol...) The house we were renting at the time was quite drafty (we were spending a small fortune every month to get the house to 68 degrees!) and we needed something on Mini's bed to help her stay warm when she lost her covers. We figured that they were worth the cost even if they only made her a couple of degrees warmer. We could tell the difference right away. When we would check on Mini at night her hands and feet were no longer ice cold. YAY!!!

Since the twins were either sleeping with us, in their swings or next to each other in their crib we didn't worry about them too much. Plus, we moved to an energy efficient house & winter ended. Well winter took me by surprise and when the first big heating bill hit I realized that something had to change. Then I checked on Little, Little Man and realized that he was sleeping ON his blanket instead of UNDER his blanket because his crib mattress was ice cold. Got to change that ASAP! Luckily, I knew right where I had tucked my PerfectlySafe.combed warmers (yes, I put the links in there AGAIN, just in case you didn't look the first time!) I put them on today and I can already see the difference. I just checked on all 3 of my beautiful sleeping babies and every single one of them has warm fingers and toes and Little, Little Man is still under his blanket. :-D

So PLEASE check them out!!! I cannot express enough how something that doesn't cost a whole lot will make a difference in your child's life (hey, I'm passionate!)

About Me

I live with the love of my life and our 3 beautiful children. I am not a very good housewife and most days I'm concentrating on just making it through the day BUT I am an amazing mom & wife and that is what matters most. I love to travel and want to, one day, live somewhere where it is warm all year round.